Boishaai marches to convincing victory over the Red Army

On Saturday, at the 20th annual Standard Bank King Edward VII Easter Festival, Paarl Boys’ High continued an early season run which has seen them assert their authority over a number of teams who either upset or came close to upsetting them last season.
In 2023, KES made them sweat for a 10-8 victory at the Easter Festival, but this time around they put some daylight between themselves and the hosts.
Imposing themselves on the Red Army, Boishaai stormed to a 19-7 lead in the first half. In a mirror image of last year’s game, King Edward VII only got on the board through a try by their big hooker, Esethu Mnebelele, and a conversion from the trusty boot of their flyhalf, Vusi Moyo.
Boishaai, though, found it slightly easier on this occasion to pry open the KES defensive line. The hosts were first on the scoreboard, but it didn’t take long for Paarl Boys’ High to reply through flanker, Steph van der Merwe.
In the opening 35 minutes, the home side looked dangerous and camped in Paarl’s danger areas while enjoying a surfeit of possession. Despite that, they simply couldn’t find a way to turn the pressure into points. The visitors, meanwhile, made use of every opportunity they created.
Further tries by winger Ashwin Swarts and flyhalf Viaan Mentoor saw the Western Cape side take a comfortable 12-point lead into the break.
In the second half, KES did a better job of containing the Paarl outfit, despite Boishaai enjoying more time with the ball, and the only points added came off of Mentoor’s boot. The damage, however, had already been done and Paarl Boys’ High continued their perfect start to the season.
Mnebelele, the sole try scorer for the Red Army, also led the locals’ defence, making a nuisance of himself at the breakdown points. He was, without a doubt, the standout performer for his side, but Mentoor and Co simply had too much firepower, even though the score could have been closer.
KES will rue a couple of missed chances, with 50/50 passes not going to hand. But Boishaai could have been more destructive in the second half.
For Paarl, flanker Ruben Dames stood out, alongside Mentoor.

A positive start put Dale College into a 12-5 lead early on in their match against Bishops Diocesan College. But the Cape Town school fought their way back into the contest and ultimately outclassed Dale to score a comprehensive victory.
Bishops opened the scoring through outside centre, Alex Laspatzis, within the first five minutes, but Dale struck back with two quickfire tries, which rattled their opponents briefly.
Bishops, however, stuck to their game plan and that paid dividends as they soon they took control of the match.
Flyhalf Jordan Petersen dotted down twice to contribute 10 points and his fullback, Lucca Mynhardt, matched him by contributing 10 points with his boot.
In Monday’s finale, Bishops takes on a wounded KES team. It’s a match-up of styles that could very well produce one of the highlights of the weekend.
After a difficult run of games at the NMI Toyota North-South Tournament, Pretoria Boys High bounced back to beat Selborne College 26-21.
Following an end-to-end first half, the Pretoria boys took control of the match, with their flanker, Panayiotis Ellinas crossing the Selbornians’ try line twice.
Paarl Gim outclassed PBHS at the North-South Tournament and another massive challenge awaits the Pretoria side when they face Gim’s arch-rivals, Paarl Boys’ High, on Monday.
Jeppe High School for Boys proved that last week’s win over Grey College was far from a one-off. It was, rather, a sign of what’s to come.
Fullback Sanele Simelane starred for the Johannesburg school, scoring two tries as they brushed aside Queen’s College 47-6.
They face Brandwag next, and Brandwag suffered a 50-point defeat against Northwood earlier in the day. If the Jeppe boys can maintain their current rhythm, their opponents could be in big trouble on Monday.
Results and scorers
Paarl Boys’ High 22 (19) – Tries: Steph van der Merwe, Ashwin Swarts, Viaan Mentoor. Conversions: Mentoor (2). Penalty: Mentoor. KES 7 (7) – Try: Esethu Mnebelele. Conversion: Vusi Moyo.
Jeppe 47 (19) – Tries: Sanele Simelane (2), Risima Khosa, Leruo Dithagiso, Macmillen Mongwana, Nathan Claassen, Luke Cannon. Conversions: Matthew Coetzee (6). Queen’s College 6 (3) – Penalties: Ryan Denston (2).
Pretoria Boys’ High 26 (12) – Tries: Panayiotis Ellinas (2), Thapelo Mphela, Stephen Adams. Conversions: Tebogo Nchabaleng (3). Selborne College 21 (7) – Tries: Siya Sakhela, Oliver Schmidt, Luke McGregor. Conversions: Page Fennel (3).
Diocesan College 47 (33) – Jordan Petersen (2), Alex Laspatzis, Alex Smith, Max Marr, Nic Reid, Aza Gabada. Conversions: Lucca Mynhardt (5), Ammar Laatoe. Dale College 24 (12) – Tries: Oyama Kuse, Liyabona Matyana, Lakhanya Mbewu, Phikolomzi Mtyalela. Conversions: Mtyalela (2).